Thursday, June 3, 2010

After reading the breaking news story of a raid by Israeli commandos on a boat called 'Freedom Flotilla', I first perceived it as a disturbing case of violence against "peaceful," non-violent activists on a peace ship. Later on in the day, on my way home from work the day of the Israeli raid on the ship, I heard on the radio some more "news" covering the event. It was from CBS government news, and they reported that Obama voiced "deep regret" over the loss of life in this incident, and condemned the incident as a tragedy against humanitarians. The liberal mainstream media was on top of the story like Obama is on taxpayers, and they all made sure to condemn Israel as the bad guy. In spite of the liberal media's strong insistence on boldly claiming Israel as the bad buy, something inside of me asked a simple but important question: What were the real motivations behind the 'freedom flotilla'?

Sure, if I didn't care to find out the truth and only listened to the CBS soundbite on the radio or only read the story from msnbc.com, a news organization bailed out and essentially run by the U.S. government, I would probably want to condemn Israel as well. MSNBC opted to headline a photo of a different event, too, picturing a protester being dragged by police officers. What perception of Israel's ship raid is MSNBC trying to give people? The liberal media condemned Israel; Obama joined international outrage on the issue and mourned the violent passengers on board the freedom flotilla who were killed during the Israeli ship raid. The group of people on board 'freedom flotilla' and their mission on that bloody day are in fact funded by terrorist organizations (IHH and 'Free Gaza'). Yet, oddly, MSNBC wrote the following propaganda piece on the incident:

International condemnation was swift and harsh as Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went so badly awry. [...] Passengers reached at an Israeli hospital and journalists aboard the ship accused the soldiers of using excessive force.

Now that we got the spin and liberal version of the story, what actually happened? I'll let the videos do the talking, ridding myself and the truth of any bias whatsoever.

Different views and camera filters...

These non-violent, peaceful activists aboard freedom flotilla were caught on video, seen throwing flash grenades, a Molotov cocktail, and using metal rods and pipes to attack the Israeli commandos. At first, what did the Israeli commandos use for self-defense? Paintball guns. Hmm... sounds like MSNBC missed the mark on this one. O'Bama? You too?

In the early hours of the 31st of May 2010, the question remains: why did IDF soldiers board the ship? IDF soldiers boarded the ships of the "Free Gaza" Freedom Flotilla, after the ships refused to redirect their course. The IDF soldiers were armed with non-lethal paintball guns, as I mentioned earlier, and pistols -- ordered to be used only as a last resort. The activists are seen in the first video waiving around metal rods and chains later used to attack the soldiers with. They're also seen throwing a flash grenade into the boat of Israeli commandos.

When the Israeli commandos boarded the ship, large groups of innocent, peaceful passengers surrounded the soldiers and beat them with metal poles and chairs, and threw one soldier over the side of the ship. MSNBC spun this incident by saying the soldiers were "jumping" overboard the ship on their own free will. The videos show another story.

Some passengers grabbed pistols from the IDF soldiers and opened fire. In a preplanned and premeditated attack against the Israeli soldiers, the protesters, even before these "non-violent, peaceful activists" began opening fire on the IDF soldiers, these people on board the ship lynched the soldiers with knives, metal rods and stole two of their pistols. As a result of the attacks, seven IDF soldiers were injured, and nine of the passengers were killed.

The Free Gaza Flotilla publicly insisted their intentions were non-violent, however their violent attack on the IDF soldiers was clearly premeditated. They had knives, metal rods, flash grenades, Molotov cocktails and other items ready to use. So, now that we know the real story behind the commandos from Israel raiding Freedom Flotilla, you tell me, who should really be condemned and who are the ones acting in self-defense?